topic Re: how to generate numeric value using string in SAS Programming

how to generate numeric value using string

gyambqt — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 04:27:31 GMT

Hi Expert,

Is there a way to generate numeric column based on the value a string column.

for example, my string column can have the value ABC123 then I want to convert this value into a fixed value 123456 using some SAS functions or format like $hex72.

I tried to format the character column using put(column,$hex72.) but it lost precision when I further convert into a numeric column

input(put(column,$72.)).

The reason I want to do this is because our primary key is in character format (ABC123) and I need to generate a numeric primary key to represent each primary key.

Thanks

Re: how to generate numeric value using string

error_prone — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 06:27:02 GMT

Because abc123 ist not the hex-represantation of 123456, you have to explain the logic you want to use.

If you want to extract numbers from strigs, look at prxmatch or substrate with anydigit.

Re: how to generate numeric value using string

Kurt_Bremser — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 07:38:10 GMT

Numbers are a VERY BAD IDEA for primary keys. They are limited by the 8-byte real format, which means that any string longer than ~7 bytes will lose accuracy/precision. Stay with character storage.

UUID's can be stored reliably as 16-byte strings (use a $hex32. format for display).